Building unit joint construction



A.1411.4, 1949. H ULL 2,458,074 I BUILDING UNIT JOINT CONSTRUCTION Jan. 4, 1949. I H. HILL 2,458,074

BUILDING UNIT JOINT CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 2l, 1945 6 sheetlfwshi' 2 Jan. 4, 1949. H H|| 2,458,074

BgUILDING UNIT JOINT ACONSTRUCTION Filed Aug, 21, 1945 6 Shee'ts-Sheet I5 H. HILL BUILDING UNIT JOINT CONSTRUCTION 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 2l, 1945 Jan. 4, 1949.

H. HIILL 2,458,074

BUILDING UNIT JOINT 4 CONSTRUCTION Filnd Aug. 2l, 1945 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Tl l 'lv l Jan. 4, 1949. 4 H. HILL 2,458,974

BUILDING UNIT JOINT CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug 2l, 1945 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Jan. 4, `1949 "UNITED .PATENT fOFFl Application August/21, 1945,"SerialNo. 611,772 In -Grea-t Britain February 22, 1944 (Cl. 2li-f4) :3 ,-Glaims.

{Ihisinvention relatesto sectional building units for` I.the-:.tyslein w-l'lieh each `unit :comprises at least Mfoto panels l or :skins :arranged 'race @to vface and `separated byV marginal :members and,:if required,

`:by ,any number of internal -stiffenei-S. Such units .are-usually sepan."atelybuil-t` upl on `jigsin-` the facltory, :and subsequently joined together on the 1 building site. .Although jig-assemblage enables-a :high degree of accuracy toi-zbe maintained, it :is desirable that the joints :between the [units :shall permit a reasonable tolerance in dimensions (for example ,11e of an inch) ,;a;nd yet :provide Aawery rigid connection `Joetwleenthe units. '[Ihe :joints l betweenathe units should :also :preferablybe disv`conneotable, rather :than fpelmanent, and for :which fournose, lbolts, or their equivale-nt, have been used, rather than ,telnet-:or :other-cement. .In

the ,ea-se of :wooden-structures, infwhich thepioi-nt vis efeoted between :two itat zfaees held together by `belts passing lthrough them, lit j has fbeenjound unsatisfactory :to rely on the `trietional lerip between the two flat surfaces for resisting shear l foroesforon the boltsfbearing onltheides ofthe `holes `in which kthey are located, `for preventing lateral movement- 1111 Afact, .in order `to Vpermit n the necessary toleranceof dimensionsof theunits, the holes for `the bolts require .to be madeloirersized, v.and the bearing `of ,the boltson the sides of the holes cannot be relied `urmri. ,n-I't is Aloot,practicable,to-employ lone'tonsue-i-and-groove `joints between the `edges of the `units, since, ,a1- `,tljioirerh-the Vunits `may be of substantial vthicliness, say of Sito-fl inches, `and are comparatively ,rigid `to handle, nevertheless, y,there is ;a possibility .of j-slghtiwarpng between the :time of constructing the unit end ereetnsit, in 1whicheasethe .tonguedandgroove jointcould notlbeassembled. j

An object lof `the presenteinventionisto provide a simple joint which will meet the above requirements,

,According to this invention, a sectional build- .-ginal member andrservescto-spaesthe two panels -or :skins apart. l

TIn. one form of construction, :one of :the :panels `may tbe .arranged -to `extend yhelmond the edge vof .the :other panel along that-,side o f the unit (which is to be joined to another unitand the junction element is -arrangedrto be supportedfby this-extendingpart of the paneLcas well aslbeingsecur-ed .between :thetwo panels, ithe exposed aoeiof .the junction element rbeyol'lid fthe @sh orter -of fthe Atwo panels Vbeing 'recessed ,so1as Lto provide an oblique `face which is inclined away from fthe `wider of the twoxpanels as `it extends to .the iedg-eof the unit. l

A number of leioobodiments of the invention are shown iin the `acconlpanyine drawings, .in which Veach of Ythe #Figures luto 5 is amsection through joints between adjoining units.

Fgureyis Aavsectional plan through apa-rt of ltherfirs-tstorey-of ;a `building:showing lthemanner in which thejoints ofFieures l and 2 maybe employed., `and "Figure .7 is asvertioal section througha part r,of

.a two-storey :building showing how the `joints of Figures 3 to 5 may be employ-ed.

In -the case .whcrerasunit isforattachment at ,right-.anglestoanother unit, as showninltigure ,1,

ing unitlof the Vkind referred to above, is charaothe 'junction element 15D between the two panels 'H :and L2 of a unit t3 has its endyface oblique to the `:panels `at -suoh an angle :that when `it `abuts ithe ,exposed -oblique :face I4 .oi =,anoth.er unit .1.5, theftwonnits arefdiSDoSedatright-angles. Regis- :tering :holes |16 and rll are `formed in the two junction elements d0 :and 11,8, the hole VI'l in the element :I 'being arranged at right-angles tothe ltwo panels 1l9rand3-2, while athe hole l in the other :junotionfelement All sis parallel with the two panels `M ,and :t21ofitsuni-t. :It willrbe :appreciated that with this arrangement, :when the bolt A2l is tightened, the uni-t d3 tends to be `forced against the shoulder 2,2 formed 4by -the cut-,away portion of the first said junction Aelement i8, between the voblique `face 123 thereof and that pant which 4is disposed between `the two panels `I9 and 2D. Corner pieces 8 maybe secured at the junction between'theitwo units and apacking piece 7l may be disposed between the two rjunction elements.

In the case where a unit slarranged for attachement at right-angles to another unit intermediate of thefside edges of suche unit solas to pro- .videa T-joint as shown in Eigure ,2, a fillet piece l2li is secured to the lace of fone -of `said panels, `which lfillet piece has "one face -26 thereof oblique Vtether ace of the ,panel at suchlan angle .that when engaged :by the obligue facets of the junction element I8 of the unit I3, the two units I3 and 21 are arranged at right-angles. In such an arrangement, the bolt hole 28 in the fillet piece 24 is arranged to extend parallel with the face of the panel 25, whereas the hole I1 in the junction piece is at right-angles to the panels I9 and 29, as in the previous arrangement.

In the case where two units require to be sen cured edge-on to one another, they are both provided with junction pieces each arranged in the manner rst referred to above, in which case, the wider of the two panels (such as panel I9) of one unit is arranged in line with the shorter of the two panels (such as panel 29) ofthe other unit. The holes in both junction pieces extend at right-angles to the two panels of its respective unit and the holes are so disposed that a gap is provided between the stepped end faces of each junction piece, thus allowing for tolerances in the dimensions of the units.

In the case where this latter construction is arranged for joining two floor units 29 and 38 to gethen as shown in Figure 3, and in which the junction lis arranged to fall within the connes of upper and lower partition Walls 3l, 32, two sets of securing bolts 33 and 34 may be provided. One

set of securing bolts 33 may be arranged to ex tend through a top marginal element 35 between the panels 36, 31 of the lower partition wall 32 and through one of the junction elements 38, whereas the other set of bolts 34 maybe arranged to extend through said marginal element 35 and both junction elements 38 and 39. The upper and lower panels 40 and 4I of the two units may constitute the `oor and ceiling respectively,

Awhich are thus attached rigidly together from one unit to the other, and also to the lower pardirection to the oblique faces 43 of the adjacent unit. To prevent possible interference at the corners where two such different pairs adjoin, the oblique faces may be cut down for a short length, as shown by the dotted lines 44, 45.

In the case where one vertically disposed unit 49 is arranged above another unit 50, as in the rcase of an outer wall (see Figure 4) the overlapping junction faces 46 of the junction elements 41, 48 may be parallel with the faces of the panels instead of being oblique. In such an arn rangement, the outer walls are first erected on a prepared foundation up to the level of the rst fioor, the internal partition walls are then inserted, followed by the units forming the ground floor. These floor units are arranged to cover the span between the outside walls in two or more units so that any discrepancy between the spacing of the outer walls and the sum of the dimensions of the floor units may be taken up in the joints between the latter. As shown in Figure 4, a first door unit I is arranged to abut against the inner panels52 and 53 of the wall units 49 and 50, and the panels 56, 51 embrace a fillet 54 secured to the wall units by bolts 55 which pass through it and the overlapping portions of the junction elements 41 and 48 of the two wall units. In the case of a ground door, a suitable support may be provided for the floor on the foundation.

As shown in Figure 5, a at roof may be constructed in a similar manner to that shown in Figure 3 by a number of abutting units 58, 59 having junction elements 60, 6I with overlapping oblique faces 62, secured together by bolts S3 passing through the junction elements at rightangles to the panels and having a set of bolts 84 which may pass through an upper marginal element 65 secured between two panels 51, 5S of a partition wall 59. In order to ensure a watertight joint between the exposed abutting edges `is shown in Figure 4.

of the outer panels, triangular ridge-pieces 10, 1I are secured to the outer panels so as to abut one another, which triangular ridge-pieces are covered bv a capping of metal, plywood or other impervious material.

Referring now to Figure 6, it will be seen that the pairs of outside walls 12, 13, 13, 14, 14, 'I5

and 15, 1S are all secured together by joints such as shown in Figure 1. The same type of joint may be employed for securing internal walls at right-angles as, for example, the pairs of walls 11, 18 and 18 and 19. Internal partition walls may be secured to one another or to the outside walls by T joints of the kind shown in Figure 2. Such joints are illustrated in Figure 6, for connecting the pairs of walls 89, 12, 8|, 13 and 8 I, 88. i

Referring now to Figure 7, an upper wall unit 82 may beisecured to a lower wall unit 83 and to a floor-ceiling unit 56, 51 by a joint such as Two nat roof sections 84, 85 may be joined to one another and to an upper storey internal partition wall 86 by a joint such as is shown in Figure 5. The internal par- "tition wall 86 may be secured to two floor and ceiling sections 81, 88 and to a lower storey internal partition 89 by a joint such as is shown in Figure 3.

In any of the arrangements referred to above, the aforesaid panels may be formed from plywood, metal, fibre or plastic material, and the junction pieces or marginal members may be formed from timber. Any permanent joints, as .between the junctions and their units, or between fillet pieces and the panels, may be made with waterproof synthetic resin glue. In order to compensate for shrinkage or seasonal variations in the dimensions of the various parts of the structure, strong spring washers may be employed with the aforesaid clamping bolts. The holes through which the securing bolts pass are arranged to provide a considerable clearance for example when 1/2 inch diameter bolts are employed the holes are 1% of an inch in diameter.

Iclaim:

1. A joint structure between two prefabricated building units extending substantially at right angles to one another, each of said units having parallel face-forming panels, one of said units havmg a first panel extending beyond the edge of a second panel, a junction element secured to and extending between said panels, said element having an oblique face overlying the extended portion of said first panel andr sloping toward this panel as it extends inwardly of the unit and a shoulder extending from the inner end of said face to the edge of said second panel substantially at right angles thereto, the other of said units being provided at the point of connection between units with a second junction element having a face of complementary slope to said oblique face, the irst mentioned junction element having a hole at right angles to the panels of its unit and the said second junction element having a hole parallel to the panels of its unit, and a bolt of smaller diameter than said holes passing therethrough, whereby tightening of said bolt draws said junction elements together and draws the said other of said units into engagement with said right angle shoulder. 2. A joint structure according to claim 1 wherein said second junction element is a. solid member secured between the adjacent marginal portions of the panels of the unit of which it forms a part, the said panels being in alinement at their edges with the sloping face of said junction element, whereby a corner joint is formed.

3. A joint structure according to claim 1 wherein said second junction element is a fillet piece secured to the face of a. unit intermediate its edges, said piece having an outer face parallel to the panels of the unit to which it is attached and an oblique face complementary to the oblique face on the junction element to which it is joined.

HARRY HILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS yNumber Name Date 1,045,223 Uhlinger Nov. 26, 1912 2,092,697 Gramelspacher Sept. 7, 1937 2,226,332 Bacci Dec. 24, 1940 2,329,041 Ford Sept, 7, 1943 

